New life
by Ghastly bloody blade
Summary: A new beginning for a few people and maybe a whole future. The future could be endangered by an admiral from the same family as DZ. With the other members gone it's up to Mike to see things through to the end.
1. Chapter 1

A/n: this is the direct sequel to Sky Blades. No time lapse or skips from the previous story.

Chapter 1

(Michael POV)

I take the news with a grain of salt but I don't think Lark is taking it so well. I clench my eyes and cover my ears for what to come. After the crap we've been through I would be mad to if I was taken from my city while being comatose and then finding out of not having a ride home.

"You got to be kidding" Lark yells at the top of her lungs.

"Now Lark please, I have an idea how to get out of here" I suggested trying to calm her down. "Richard do we still have the black box on the ship?"

He looks up but with an annoyed look on his face. He knows what I'm suggesting but will he accept it. I know Richard all too well.

"If you're saying I think you're saying then it might just work but I'm having my doubts now."

I nod and begin to walk to the Dreadnought. Before I take another step out of the door someone says.

"Um, question?"

We all look at the blonde guy to see what he has to ask.

"What is it Finn" Aerrow asks.

"Guys what exactly is the black box?"

Richard starts to look at me and the rest of the squad. He sighs and he brings is head up with a straight look on his face.

"I guess we can't leave you guys in the dark forever; the black box contains not only the most powerful crystals on Atmos but few of the most powerful crystals in the universe."

This catches Piper's and Lark's attention. If I know Lark she would ask to see the crystals due to her extreme prefer to experiment with those things.

"Can I see them" Lark asks.

Then Richard's face goes from straight to hateful. I can tell he wants no one else to know about the power of those crystals. He was always serious about thing but not like this.

"I suppose but promise that you won't touch them."

She nods her head. She tries to get up and I walk over to help her sit up. Even after a week of recovering from the surgery and she is still a bit weak and famished. I lift her up bridal style so I can carry her to the dining hall.

"Richard" I call out. "There is an olive branch flag in the main hall; can you wave over the court yard telling everyone to stop fighting."

He nods and leaves the room. Everyone notice I'm taking Lark somewhere.

So Piper asks "hey Michael; where are you taking her?"

I turn around and say "I'm taking her to the dining hall to eat and it's around early noon."

At that instance a roar is heard. This freaks out Gareth, Razor and I about it. So in an instinct we drew our weapons. We franticly search the room for that roar until we pinpointed where it is coming from.

"Um, Junko" Gareth asks. "That wouldn't happen to be your stomach is it?"

He nervously chuckle and says "Well we did skip breakfast to get here."

I give a sigh of relief but also a bit bothered. I bring my head back up and say "Well we all can go to the dining hall to get some food in our stomachs."

Some of us laugh some even grunt in agreement. I lead everyone through the halls and as we walk the sound of fighting have died down. I can tell the flag have worked. When we arrived to the dining hall Richard is already waiting at one of the tables. I walk over to one of the chairs to set Lark down. When I set her down I get a smile from her as a thank you. I proceed over to the kitchen to make lunch for everyone. The kitchen also connects to a garden both profuse in vegetation and in some wild life. I walk over to the pond to catch some domesticated fish and some clams. I catch about ten fish and thirty clams. I then walk over to one of the vegetation patches to get some fresh spice and carrots. I put everything in separate baskets to allow me to carry everything into the kitchen. As I walk in I noticed Stork joining us and he is just as paranoid as ever. I smile as everyone actually has friendly banter and conversations. It does my heart that not only I get to save my treasure but to also make good friends in the process. I kind of figured they would still be at each other's throats but the power of forgiveness apparently is a broad sword compared to the knife of hate. I proceed to cooking everyone's lunch. I skin and de-bone the fish. I figured I would bake the fish so I did. I get started to boiling the clams and cutting the carrots. As the fish bakes I sprinkle the fresh spice over the fish. I also bring out some bread to toast so I can get started on steaming the carrots. I peel each carrot and chop them into slices. I flip the fish over to spice that side. I pull the bread out of the oven so I can slice into tem equal pieces. I place the bread and fish on ten plates and I walk over to the carrots on I place a good portion on each plate. I look around the kitchen to find what I can use to bring all the plates out at once. I find a cart near the ice box. I wheel it over to the plates and begin to load the meals onto it. As soon I get the last plate on I bring everyone their meals. I walk into the dining room and everyone was laughing about a joke I overheard Gareth said, I think it was about a raccoon stuck on a rock in a pond. I place each plate in front of each person. I then take my seat with my plate next to Lark. My cousins and I did our usual before meal prayers to the gods. As soon we finish we just dig in. While we eat I her Junko give a hum of enjoyment.

"Hey Mike" Junko calls out. "This is really good; what your secret?"

I laugh and say "no secret just some herbs and spice."

Then everyone chuckle and laugh. We continue the meal as usual. When we finish eating we get down to business. Richard pulls a black box out of his coat. It's a foot wide, seven in length and three inches in height. He places his thumbs on the tabs and then a click is heard. It opens when the clicks were heard. He turns the box at us and ten little crystals are in the box are visible to us.

The only reaction initially was Lark's.

"That's it; those are the universes most powerful crystals."

"I expected them to be bigger" Piper added in.

Richard give a small sigh and says "size does not matter; one of these alone could power a Phalanx class battleship for a whole century and those things are like a moving city fortress."

Then Aerrow, Junko, Finn and Stork now stare at the small one inch crystals. We then notice Finn because most of us know what he's thinking. Then Gareth opens up and says to Finn.

"No Finn you can't have a crystal to power your guitar."

"Aw man you're no fun."

At that instance we all laugh. After that moment we go back to business.

"Alright we had our fun but now we need to discuss the plan to get out of here."

"Richard is right; not saying the Condor can't hold us all just we need to distribute enough weight allowing us to get to New Cyclonia in a day" I add. "We either need to salvage those ships for parts and materials to rebuild the Dreadnought or convert this castle into a flying fortress."

"Michael, just wondering why is that small thing called a dreadnought" Junko asks.

"Well it used to be half a bridge for the flagship of our great grandfather's battle ship before it got blasted to pieces and some parts were salvageable; we just modified it for travel and as a home."

"I see so" Stork says. "Well I will get started salvaging it."

"Take Gareth he's DZ's mechanic." As soon I said that Richard takes charge and assign jobs to everyone.

"Junko, Finn, Aerrow, Razor go into the forest with a couple of scouting squads to salvage for parts; Mike and Piper you two try to convert the Dreadnought's engines to accept these crystals; I'll help reorganizing the troops and Lark you can oversee the operation."

We all nod in agreement and Richard closes the box and hand it over to me. We all walk out while I place the box on Lark's lap and lift the chair she is in and bring her outside. When I got outside some of the guys from the Storm Hawks' side begin fixing their skimmers while my men bury the dead and setting the tombstones. I set Lark down by the sun. The spot I set her down is a bit isolated, no one can hear us so I guess now is a good time to tell Lark my feelings.

"Hey Lark."

"What is it Mike?"

"Remember the day we met?"

"Yeah that was the day you kissed me" She says blushing to that moment of nostalgia.

"Well at that moment I just wanted some fun but from that day I grew feelings for you." As I keep our eyes locked on each other I can tell she is taken back by this. "Every day I've seen you the more those feelings grew but so did my cowardice; it was until now I held my feelings back." As I say that I raise my hand to meet hers and she place her other hand on top of mine. "When we get back I would like to take you out for a date."

"Oh Mike that is so nice but I don't know; this whole thing about being nice seems all too new to me and I don't know."

"Well we still don't know unless we try."

She chuckle and says "Well okay." I feel so happy that she accepted my offer but before I get up, she squeezes my hand and says "I swear if you ever try anything it's your manhood on the line here." I gulp and nod. "Good now on your way" she says in a cheerful tone.

A take my hand back and I take the box into my arms. I look at her again and say "Lark, sometimes you can be either persuasive or just plain scary." She giggles as I walk back to the semi-smoking carcass of a ship.

I meet with Piper so we can get started on the engine. We walk through the narrow hallway to get to the engine room. It's a hot mess in here. The engine must have blown up when it crashed into the wall. Luckily for us there is a closet filled with spare parts for us to use to repair the engine. I open the giant hatch where the carcass of an engine is leaning up against. I kick the smoking pile of smelted metal out of the hatch so we can have room to build the crystal converter. We get started on building the base until we hear a scream.

We get out of the ship to see what happened. We can't believe what we found. A giant wolf is cornering one of the soldiers. I run towards the wolf but the wolf hears my foot steps and it immediately turns to attack me. I wrestle the wolf but it quickly over powers me. It tosses me onto my back with its giant teeth and it tears off a piece of my armor. It charges at me ready to rip my head off. I close my eyes in hopes it would be quick and painless. I then hear the sound of crystal-like object growing out of the ground. I open my eyes to see a cage of ice surrounding the wolf and it looks like a close call too. I look back to see Razor and his salvage team have returned with some useable engine parts.

I look back at the wolf and I can tell it tried to attack one of the soldiers for a reason. I try to place my hand on its forehead but it growled at me. I ignore it. I need to establish connection with the beast. I delve deep into its mind until our thought meet.

I appear in a location where it looks like one of the sacred places of the forest. I appear as what my ancestors were: a reaper with wings. I look to find the wolf but instead I find a godly being. I try to speak with my mouth but no words come out. The only thing I could do is think my words. This came out like I'm actually saying it.

"This is surely a strange place."

"Indeed my friend."

I look to meet my eyes with the godly figure. "Are you the wolf I'm trying to communicate with?"

"Yes, I am; I am the guardian of the forest: Veles."

"Tell me Veles, why did you attack one of my friends' soldiers?"

"I delve deep into his mind and he wish to turn the forest into a civilization for the moderates and remove those of the old ways."

"We will leave as soon as we can."

"You better else you and your friends will feel the wrath of Gaia."

"Help us and we will leave the forest as soon as possible."

"Very well."

In that instance my vision becomes filled with a blinding light. I find myself back in the courtyard. I no longer see a wolf, now I see a man dressed in robes of a shaman. I turn to nod to Razor to bring the cage down. For a number of reasons I can still hear Veles' thoughts. This troubles me but we need to get out of here. I walk back to the Dreadnought with Veles following me. We get questionable looks from everyone but the forest denizens. I want to tell them its okay but Veles tells me to pay them no mind. They way Veles wants to help me is almost similar to Wrath's but more demanding for us to leave. We walk through the hallway to the engine room.

When I walk in, the replacement engine is set in while the energy converter is still in its base form. I quickly get to work on it. I bring up the schematics on the type of energy conversion for these types of crystals. A long time ago back on Rohann, these crystals were considered forbidden. Now these power just about everything: battleships, weapons, hospitals, heck even a blender. The first time these crystals were used was when my great grandfather Achilles 1st used seven weapons powered only by these crystals. He even fought an entire war with these types of crystals. From then on we call them saber shards. The type of energy these crystal emit are spectral energy; meaning a source of concentrated light need to enter the crystal to activate the limitless amount of energy stored in it otherwise it will just be a decorative piece. I grab one of the emergency blasters in the emergency box hanging off of the wall. I quickly build a container to house the wild energy before plugging it into the system. I place a saber shard in the far corner of the container. I leave a small crack allowing me to shoot the crystal. I silently pray to the gods that this will work. I take the shot and quickly close the container. At first nothing and then I hear a hum of energy flowing inside the container. Soon the container begins to glow every color of the spectrum. I place the container into the energy converter and seal it tight. I flip the switch and the ship comes to life. I walk to the outside of the ship. I see that all the salvage teams are here and the exterior of the ship looks like it can hold until we get to a city. I see Richard climbing up and walk to stand next to me.

"Mike, I don't know what the hell did you do to that shaman but everything that could rip a man to shreds did not make a howl or disturbance for the salvage teams and somehow the men look relaxed to the point they are actually working faster and better; tell me the hell happened?"

"Cousin, that shaman is the guardian of the forest and he agreed to help us leave and the only thing he wants is for us to leave."

"Well let's honor his wish by leaving now." Richard then turns to the soldiers to give an announcement. "Can I get your attention; now that we need to do is done here, we all can go home back to New Cyclonia; but we have to leave now, so load up and prepare for flight."

I jog across the courtyard to get Lark. I take a quick glance to my sides and I find that my fighter have been returned to me. I run to Lark and have a quick word.

"Ready to go my lovely lark?"

She giggles a bit and responds "whenever you're ready."

I nod and pick her up bridal style. I run towards my fighter and prop open the cockpit. I gently lay Lark down on the co-pilot seat and myself on the pilot's seat. We quickly take off and circle the two ships and squadron of skimmers. We wait as they get off of the ground. Before I leave I hear one last thought from Veles.

"Hurry Michael Blade hurry before the forest turns on you."

I reach over to my radio and opened a radio signal between my fighter, the Condor, Dreadnought and the remaining twenty skimmers. I make sure it's a secure channel. I hail the Condor and Dreadnought first.

"Guys we need to get out of here now."

I hear Stork from one of the lines and he says "don't need to tell me twice."

Then I hear a respond from Gareth.

"Well we worn this place down; lets bolt."

We all aim towards the direction of New Cyclonia and we all fly there at full speed in hopes of getting home sooner. I have a feeling this is just the beginning.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: the story Mike is telling in this is a large hint about a story I will bring in to the fan fiction universe.

Chapter 2 A past and a future

(Michael POV)

I fly through the air matching the speeds of the Dreadnought and Condor. As soon we are all in the same speed I set the fighter to cruise mode. I lean back in my chair and I use the co-pilot's camera to talk to Lark. I still have to say she is just as beautiful on camera as she is in person. I raise my hand and wave to her.

"Hey Lark, things ok back there?"

"Aside that this chair is more comfortable than my own furniture, I've been better."

"Well I have to inject a lot of drugs to keep you in a healthy and stable state."

"And I'm grateful for it; do you want to talk about anything?"

"Well I know all about you but I deprived you of knowledge about me."

"True" she says questioningly. "Please tell me about you."

"Mind if I start from my father's beginning?"

"Well if it ties well with your story then okay."

I lean back a bit trying to get myself comfortable to tell the story. I feel uncertain about telling about my family's past. This feel like something I need to tell. I sigh and I begin to tell the tale.

"It starts like this; a long time ago on a distant world called Earth: a planet filled with heroes and villains alike; my grandfather traverse the universe looking for a place to stay since he left his home world; this was a decision on his own; when he landed he was immediately captured by the world's military; he pleaded that his son: my father, is to be taken care of; my father was taken to an orphanage is a city called New York; there he grew up; by his late teens he was confronted by a man in a wheelchair; he was given a chance to live a real life beyond that of which concealed his true passion and abilities; my father was a metalmancer; it means he can control metal and create metal into different shapes and forms; the man in the wheelchair believed heavily on my father's abilities that he offered a role in a team of heroes; my father agreed to but for a reason: he want to find out who is his parents is; he was then proper initiated into the team and that is where he met my mother; they called her rouge for some reason but he didn't mind; they continue to work well together up to a point where they show feelings for each other; by the time they have me my father found out who is his father through a couple of cousins of his who is closely affiliated with another team of heroes; they sometimes work together on some occasions; he was told that he is from another world and he was told about a cousin of his who was prince at the time; by the time I'm twelve years of age a plague befallen the city; every hero and villain alike fell victim to this plague turning them into horrible monsters; my father's cousins already left for the home world a few months after meeting my father, so they didn't fall victim to the plague; my father was building a teleportation pod allowing my mother, father and myself to travel to the home world; before we can go a group of infected heroes broke into the base and spread the infection; my mother was one of the first victims; so my father sent me back to the home world for my cousins to take care of me; since then I didn't hear a word of him for nine years; during those years I was training to be a sharp shooter and a medical expert; and the past seven I was with my cousins doing this damn mercenary business; they told me I don't have to shoot if I don't want to; until last week I never took a life; that is what I go through, what my father went through and still I miss him."

I watch the screen and Lark gives me a look of empathy. She reaches over from her seat and pats me on the shoulder consoling me. I smile knowing there are more people who can understand me aside from my family.

I turn my attention back to skies and something is happening. The forest is changing below the ships. Then out of nowhere several large birds appear from the forest. The size of those birds is the size of a mark III Ultra skimmer. I send a visual report to the ships alerting them the situation. A few minutes later a few skimmers and my cousins meet with me. Before we get into range the ships fire the initial shots. A large number of the birds fall but still so many of them still fly. The skimmers and my fighter squadron break formation to engage the birds. As fly through the birds ranks some of the pilots in the open skimmers gets picked apart of get swallowed whole. I turn a 180 to see the flock coming straight for us. I take a look around and there are so few of us left. The flock looks like they are ready to tear the rest of us to pieces. As soon the flock charges towards us, a beam of energy hits the birds and a majority of them fall.

I look up to see a flight of Juggernaut class ships and Hawk class fighters. A Hawk class fighter literally looks like giant mechanized birds with guns. This is a relief to see allied assistance. I just wonder how they found us. The radio fills with radio chatter until a clear line communication comes up.

"This is Admiral Simon Blade; I implore you to dock with my ship the Storm Blade in order to be brought to safety."

Without a shred of hesitation the fighter squadron, Dreadnought and The Condor shoot straight past the cloud cover. We expect a Legion class ship but instead we are in the presence of a Phalanx class Cruiser. The length of the ship stretches on for miles. Even from the lower decks there are huge blasters ready to fire onto incoming enemies. The ship reminds of the times I've been training amongst the Rohannian elite. We enter docking bay SF-34. We are quickly met with medical and security personnel. During both ordeals we lost a lot of good men and women today. I exit my fighter and then I help ease Lark out of the co-pilots seat. I look around as both able-bodied and injured are extracted the ships. I meet with my cousins with Lark next to me.

"Hell of a day today, eh?"

"You said it Razor" Richard comments.

"Hey Rich it's your brother."

We turn to see the Admiral of the fourth fleet and ground commander of the nineteenth. The widely known Simon Blade also known as Simon the Sword of Retribution. We salute when he approach us. He salutes back and asks.

"So what are you guys doing out here?"

"Just doing some mercenary, sir" Gareth giving the answer.

He turns his gaze onto Richard and says "brother, for all these years I thought you perished on Korriban; and yet here you stand."

"Well it has been a long time and how I survived I used the skills I've been taught by my master."

"Well that explains things; here your tags." In his hands are dog tags in the shape of a heater shield. "Take them so we all can recognize that you're alive."

Richard takes the tags and hangs it around his neck. He seems so pleased about it. Simon turns and gesture us to follow. I personally never have been inside of a Phalanx class so this is my first time inside of one. I look to my left to find a map showing all of the levels of the ship. It reveal to me that there are some artificial agricultural areas, an armory, a barracks, the engineering level and so much more. I try to memorize the map before trying to catch up to the others. The way Richard is staying next to Simon I can tell he served on the Storm Blade. I follow them through the series of hallways to the core bridge. The main Bridge is for commanding the fleet but this is where the real magic happens. There are rows of communication consoles, a 3D holo-map, advance radar system, and hyper-drive controls. We gather near the map and it shows the fighters engaging the flocks of birds. Simon sighs and says.

"So what in Zeus's name were you guys doing deep in the cursed forest; didn't you the reports I've sent to all allied ships in the area?"

Richard retorts "trust me brother it's a long story but you can debrief me."

"I'll get to that soon but first we need to plot a course to the nearest city."

I respond "the nearest I know is New Cyclonia."

"Then someone get their leader on the helm so we can talk about our arrival."

"There is no need" I speak up.

"Why?"

"The city's leader is right here" I said gesturing my hand the Lark.

The look on Simon's face is almost priceless. Hardly anyone could surprise him. He reorganizes his thoughts and asks Lark.

"With your permission madam; may we dock in your city?"

Lark smiles and says "granted."

We feel the ship move and I look at the map and we are heading east. We head on back to the hanger where the medical personnel already treated the wounded and I see the Storm Hawks waiting. We walk over and we notice that majority of their original force have been cut down to forty percent. We silently pray to give peace to those who died. Lark and I talk with them until I see the Dreadnought already dismantled and all that is left are the fighter ships. On my cousins ships I see their stuff in boxes and luggage bags tied to their ships. I look to see that Richard must have given a written report to give to Simon which explains why he is here so fast. I walk over with worry on my face.

"Guys; what is going on?"

Richard turns and asks "how long have we been doing this type of work?"

"Seven years but…"

"Exactly seven long years; it's time for each of us to separate to our own paths."

I long down with a forlorn look and ask "where am I to go?"

Richard smiles and says "this is where you belong little cousin; we however need to find our own way; in the words of the great Achilles I, may the force protect you and honor guard you."

Tears well up in my eyes, these are tears of sadness and joy. I salute and I yell as loud as I can "until next we meet Commander."

"Same goes to you, Captain." With that they depart. I stand there with my mouth agape as they fly into the horizon line in their own direction.

I wipe the tears from my eyes as they disappear in the distance. I turn to look at everyone. I guess I'll be with them from now on. I walk into the hallway. I remember on the map that there is a bar in the east wing of the ship. I traverse through until I reach the bar. I order some wine in a tall goblet. I sometimes forget that I'm a power warrior capable of defending his rights to protect others and to contain a number of emotions. Well this is one of those times.

I drink down a few glasses. I saturate myself in a lot of emotions, frustration, guilt, anger, sadness and confusion. I bathe in these emotions until I feel someone joining next to me. I don't know if it's a hallucination or real but I'm seeing the Dark Ace sitting next to me. Last anyone heard of him he was confirmed dead, no trace of existence left and yet here he is sitting next to me. He turns to me and says.

"You know kid, if you bottle all of those emotions you'll end up just like me; power hungry and dead."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean let it out; just let it all flow like a river and when you're done you must swear to protect her."

"Why?"

"You know why."

And with that he disappears as soon I blink my eyes. I couldn't comprehend what just happened but I don't know if it was real or fake. I snap my attention to the person who touched my shoulder as soon as they touch it. I see Aerrow standing there I can from the look in his eyes he might know who I was talking to. I gesture him to come sit by me. I order some whisky for him to drink.

"So" Aerrow starts. "Who were you talking to?"

"I think you should know."

"So Dark Ace talked to you?"

"That he did; man the stuff that just happened in the last hour is a bit too much to take in."

"I hear that."

"Davai my friend let's drink our youth and health."

"Okay lets drink."

As we drink a ship wide announcement broadcast through the ship. It alerts everyone that we are ten minutes out from docking with New Cyclonia. Aerrow and I finish our drinks and exit the bar to head on over to the hangar. I ponder what did Dark Ace said. What does he mean? By the time we arrive to the hanger there is a drop ship waiting for us. The drop ship is a refurbished relic of the past when my great grandfather fought in the clone wars but it's doable. The drop ship is an old LAAT but it's been outfitted with advance beam cannons and artillery guns. As we mount the ship, the rest of the Storm Hawks and Lark was waiting for us. I quickly notice that Lark is wearing some new clothes that reflect her personality. She is wearing a tight yet loose dark purple women's dress shirt and a pair of black women's slacks. She still wears the same slippers when she wore her dress.

"Hey Lark where did you buy the clothes?"

"Well I did a bit of walking around in the ship and found a shopping area; you know you're right this place is like a moving city."

"Well where did you get the money to get the clothes because last I recall all we have when we fled the city was our clothes and my ship."

"Well your cousin was kind enough to buy it; although it was strange that the currency here is ammunition clips."

"Yeah cause out in the field money means nothing; the more valuable items are ammunition or favors; the more favorite form is ammunition because it's easily rechargeable."

As I tell them the facts on how things work on ships like a Phalanx Class we feel the floor tremble a bit. If I have to guess this means we landed. The doors open to see a few of Simon's soldiers standing in two parallel lines with Simon waiting at the end of the lines. From the looks of the uniforms of the soldiers they are from 117th anti-tank infantry and remnants of the 501st back from the Clone Wars. We walk down and meet with Simon. As soon we did Lark take up front and lead us all into the main meeting chamber which is also known as her throne room.

I look around to the looks of the local garrison soldiers that their great leader is back with her sworn enemies. They stand confused and angry. We simply ignore them to continue on our way. We made our way to the throne room. As soon we get there we find a bunch of the aristocrats bickering about who should be in charge of New Cyclonia. I cough out loud indicating our presence needs to be known. They turn to snap at us until the first thing they see is Lark or in their terms Master Cyclonis. I chuckle to myself while still being humble that they are franticly apologizing to Lark for trying to take her rightful place. They we quickly dismissed as soon the last one apologizes. I notice Simon have a serious look on his face. He bring his left wrist up and activate his communicator. He spoke something in Rohannian. I understand it fully. He said to his communicator 'kill the aristocrats and dump the bodies in to the endless abyss.' The moment he deactivate his communicator we hear blaster shots and muffled screaming.

"Um, Simon" Aerrow asks. "What was that?"

"I've taken a look in their minds and they were plotting to have Master Cyclonis assassinated; I did what any concerned commanding officer would've done in my place; I had them executed on the spot."Everyone's eyes shoot open when said that. "I'm just going to get fuel and I'll take my leave after my job here is done."

As soon he said that he leaves the room. We have a distressed look on our faces. I try to swallow my disgust and fear but it's too much to keep down. So I force it all down in one gulp. I find some cold sweat on my hands. Along with the fear is a sense to demand an answer for why he is here. I run after him. I am able to catch him halfway before he departs to the Storm Blade.

"Simon" I call out. "Why exactly are you here?"

"It's the best interests of The Grand Coalition to be here."

"For what reasons?"

"To transport a city to the Atmos and it seems that you and Master Cyclonis volunteered this city."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

(Michael's POV)

I walk up the steps the next day with regret hanging off my shoulders. We should have just run; we should have just left the forest alone and above all I shouldn't have endangered everyone at all. Now the city may die because of my ambition. How will I break this grave news to Lark? She will be devastated by this all she want is to live her life. I find her and the Storm Hawks in the throne room. I walk in the room with my face smothered in sadness and regret. I look at them with the gravest news I must give. I have to tell them. Just I am about to say anything Lark lash out.

"So do you have anything to say about this 'honey'; I bet you want to take over since you got here."

"Lark please I didn't -"

"Save it; I don't want to see you; one of my soldiers told me about your plans of moving the city; just leave and don't come back."

I hang my head with a sadness I can't comprehend. I never felt like that since nine years ago. I turn tail and walk out of the room. I can't believe it after all of that work, all of the time we spent, it's all gone. I don't blame myself for this; if anyone is to blame its Simon. I used to look up to him. The sword of retribution, to that I laugh. This is cruelty not retribution, I can't believe it he's a hypocrite. He wants best for the people but instead this is probably the worst thing he's giving to me. Why me? I want Lark to be happy but not like this. There is only one plan of action to delay this if not stop it. I must challenge Simon to a duel.

I walk through the palace ignoring the stares. I don't care whatever they think; I no longer care for anyone but Lark. If this will make her happy then so be it. I reach the shipyards to see gravity augmenters filling up two docking areas. I search the area for Simon until I find him directing the troops who are moving the power cells for the augmenters. I yell out.

"Simon, hey Simon."

"Ah Michael; have you come to watch progress in action?"

"No; I don't want this to happen; Cease this madness and if you won't then I challenge you to a duel."

"Hmm, so the cub becomes a lion; alright I accept your challenge."

"This duel will commence at high noon here on the docks."

I turn on my heel and walk away. Now the only problem is the skill I must incorporate into this duel. Simon is Richard's twin brother so they undergone the same training: assassin training. I went through sniper and medical training along with fencing. I have to practice if I'm ever going to match my older cousin.

I can see that my jet was loaded off of the Storm Blade and for that I'm grateful. I walk over to my jet and I press a button on the haul of the fighter. The fighter begins to change shape from its complex wing design to somewhat of a miniature house. I enter and it doesn't surprise me that it's a pocket dimension space. I draw a Rapier from one of the racks hanging on the wall. I practice my form and my riposte. I practice my thrusts and my prime stance. My favorite stance is the octave stance but I have to practice every parry or I will lose this. I flick to the left and right but at the same time keeping myself centered. I look at the time and it's almost noon. I equip on my body my family's traditional whites for interfamily duels. The whites are standard fencing whites but our foils are not as dull. I pick up the rapier I used and I sharpen it on the grindstone.

My heart feels as heavy as when Wrath used to control my body. I shrug the feeling off. Wrath is dead and I saw that happen. He made his peace with the gods. I just wish why. Why didn't he tell me everything about himself aside from being a dark manifestation of myself? I just wish he is here stand with me, but no. I buried him; I surround his grave with white stones. I don't want any of this to happen.

I hear the city's bell ring indicating its high noon. I stand up and walk to the docks. A platoon of soldiers are gathered in a circle. I suspect that this is where we are going to fight. I walk past the soldiers so I can meet with Simon. I reach the center of the ring and Simon is ready with his rapier. We stand at attention towards at each other.

We encircle each other determine each other's moves before one of us makes that move. The wind blows heavily and that is my signal. I start my assault with a lunge. Simon block with a coulé and parries. I disengage and I lunge trying to land an in quartata. Simon however notices the feint and riposte. Before I know it we are moving this fight more inland to avoid environmental hazard. As I move backwards Simon sends a barrage of hits at me but I keep in the Quarte form. I feel Simon's every attack press against my foil and for a moment I heard the foible crack a bit. I keep moving backwards and before I know it we are inside the palace. Then soon we enter the throne room. Our duel catches the attention of Lark.

"What in Atmos is going on?"

I turn my head and before I say a word I feel something cold enter my body, something sharp. I look down to see Simon's saber thrust into my chest cavity. The blood stains my whites. I hear the clatter of my rapier hit the ground. I reach up and I feel the blood seeping out of my mouth. Then I feel the cold steel exit my body leaving a fatal wound in its place. I collapse to my side. I can feel my life slowly fluttering away from my mortal body. I hear Lark screaming.

I look and I see her running to my soon to be carcass. She forces my body so I can face her. I see tears streaming down from her eyes. I wrap my arms around her. I'm scared and I don't want to be alone. I cough some blood that have been pooling inside my mouth. I don't want to die. I must not die. I must live for myself, for Cyclonia, for Lark Cyclonis. I have to persevere for them, for her. My eyes feel heavy; I close them for a moment. Darkness envelops my sight and blinds me.

I open my eyes and I see a desolate green field. The color of everything however is dull. No light, no darkness just a hue of gray mixed with everything else. I barely see another soul here. The only thing I see is my past playing back to me. From the moment I am born to the moment I die. Everything else in between are moments I savor and moments I cry the most. I cry the most whenever I see that horrible moment; the moment my mother was killed in front of me. I turn away from that since it is the past but yet the past will find a way to come back. I always savor the moment my cousins stood up for me when I was bullied eight years ago. I even savor the moment I accepted my feelings for Lark. I now know this place. This is the border between heaven and hell. I sit next to the black willow tree up on the hill. Every moment, every tear, every laugh and every death is here. I sit down on the willow tree and I rest for a moment.

That is interrupted when something bright approached me. I open my eyes to see it's my great grandfather: Achilles. I stand up to meet his gaze. He's very regal in his armor. I kneel down and cross my fist to meet the opposite shoulder. He gestures to me and points behind me. I turn to find a mirror embedded in the bark of the tree. I look deep into the mirror to find Lark sobbing over my corpse. I can hear it so clearly. I'm feel like I'm about to let a river of sadness go from my eyes. I rub my eyes until.

"Michael, please come back to me; I'm sorry that I yelled at you; please come back to me; I don't want to be alone again."

Those words released something deep inside of me. I'm her champion, I'm her guardian, and I'm her true love. I feel the hidden reservoir every honorguard have inside of them open the flood gates holding the energy back. I close my eyes letting the tears flow down and I take a deep breath. I exhale and the energy begins to release. I look to my sides and I have wings. I look at my hands and a bow is nestled firmly in my grip. The shape of the bow resembles a heart whenever I pull back the anchor point. The color of the bow is pure white as the snow. I achieve true form. I'm a knight and no longer an honorguard. I look back to thank my great grandfather but he is nowhere to be found. The fields begin to gain color and glow bright. The brightness turn to a clear blinding light.

I wake up in the throne room. I see Lark sobbing into my whites. I wrap my arms around her and sit up. She looks up to meet my eyes. I nuzzle my muzzle into her black hair. I release my wings and I wrap ourselves behind its elegance. I place a kiss on her forehead. I stand up and I tuck my wings in.

I pick up my rapier and I get into the Septime stance. Simon see me and he engage into the Prime stance. I charge forward and I start with a false thrust. Simon couldn't block the thrust in time. I flick upwards giving Simon another scar for his little collection. I finish with a froissement causing Simon's rapier to fall off his hand. I salute to him and the our duel is done. I throw my rapier to the ground and I present my hand towards him. He accepts and I help him back up. He nods and walk away.

I turn around and I see stray tears on Lark's face. I walk towards her and I wipe away the tears with my hand and I pull her into my embrace. In silence we cry together. In that moment I really believed I was going to pass on from this world. I loosen my embrace and my eyes meet with hers. I lean in and I place a gentle kiss on her lips. I want to savor this moment but it's broken when Piper walk up and says.

"So you two back together again?"

I laugh. "Piper we only had a little fight but that won't end my love for Lark then and there."

"So you have wings now" Lark asks.

"Yeah; while I was dead I found something that makes me realize that there are more thing in life but yet even that remains a mystery to me."

I pull Lark closer into my embrace and I take flight. I fly through the skylight in the vastly large throne room. I can see the city and with Lark in my embrace. I could say this was some day. I died and then reborn. I land at the docks where they are loading the gravity augmenters. I walk up to Simon who is still in his whites.

"Simon."

"Here to claim your prize Mike?"

"Yes it's more of a change in plans."

"So what is it Captain?"

"Instead of the city we could move the mountains."

"That is a risk and not to mention a financial risk; we could lose hundreds of troops; it cost millions to manufacture these soldiers at the factories; but fine."

I stand by with Lark as the drop ships descend down to install the gravity augmenters. The quiet and dullness of the fog under the city begins to fill with sounds of blasters. The vivid teal flashes of the blasters replace the gray of the fog. I hear a very shrieking sound from the fog and screams of the soldiers sent down there. Then the excitement fades and nothing.

The sound coming from the fog is now the muffled sound of excavation tools digging into the mountains. For this operation to work all fifteen augmenters need to be installed into all three mountains the city stretched over on. The tools stop after twenty minutes of digging. The radio in Simon's hand begins to static through.

"Admiral Blade to excavation teams; what is the situation?"

"Just some bugs' sir but all of the augmenters are in place; all teams are staying close to each augmenter to keep them in good condition as we teleport these mountains back to Atmos."

Lark's face light up we she heard that we are teleporting this whole city to Atmos. She forces me into her embrace. I know she seems eager to return to Atmos but this is adorable. I wrap my arms and wings around her. I lean close and I give her a kiss. I open my mouth allowing her to gain entrance into my mouth. Our tongues touch and we explore each other's mouths. Our little make out session is interrupted when Aerrow taps me on the back.

"Hey Mike me and others need to get going."

"Oh you're not going anywhere."

"Why is that" Finn asks.

"We're all going home."

"You mean" Stork asks.

"This whole city is on its way to Atmos; but to where old Cyclonia used to be."

All their faces light up in excitement and at least Stork look like he's ready to go home. I figured that there so many things that he feared back in Atmos like Murk Raiders or those spine sloths. The only thing these friends of mine want is to go home. And to home we shall. They say home is where the heart is and mine is with Lark. My home is with her. In perspective I'm like a little puppy and Lark is my Mistress.

I look down and the energy fields engulf all three mountains in a single dome of light. A kilometer or two away a portal open large enough for the dome to travel through. The ground rumbled and I hear a set of thrusters pulling the trio of mountains. I look up to see the Strom Blade towing the mountains. We travel through the portal with anything but ease. Due to the mass of the mountain we travel through the portal at a slow pace.

I clench my hand around Lark's hand. I feel her lean closer to my side. As the wall of energy that will transport us to Atmos inch closer, I turn to her and I lean in for a kiss. The warmth of her lips and the energy of the portal engulf us. The portal preserves our moment for a brief amount of time until we reach Atmos. The moment the entire mountains are engulfed by the portal we move in a quick pace where we end up where old Cyclonia used to be.

Our kiss ends as soon the energy that engulfed around us. I look at my watch and Lark and I have been in our kissing position for two minutes. I release Lark and I of my total embrace. I examine the skies and they're bleak and dull. I fly high into the air and with the flap of my wings I clear the dark clouds that surround the area. The clouds dissipate into nothing. The skies are now clear and blue. I glide around until I found a perfect empty spot for the city to be placed. I measure the city and the total of the area of the city is 50x60x90 kilometers. I watch with pride that the Terra of Cyclonia have been rebuilt upon the ruins of its former self.

As I'm about to fly back to the docks I see multiple Sky Knight Squadrons fly towards the city. I fly over to greet them. As I get closer there are so many of them, many of which I can identify. Among the fleet I see the Third Degree Burners, Rex Guardians, Absolute Zeros, The Neck Deeps and so many more. I notice the person leading them is the Interceptor Starling. I fly in front of them and I introduce myself.

"Day to you I am Michael Blade friend of the Storm Hawks, Fiancé to Lark Cyclonis and Knight of New Cyclonia."

Starling gives me a mean look in her eye. I have a feeling in the back of my mind that they are here for something I don't think its tea and cakes. As soon she is about to say something Aerrow arrives.

"Starling hey" Aerrow yells out.

"Hello there Aerrow it's good to see you again but let's talk later; now excuse me I now have to defeat Cyclonis's newest Champion."

"Wait it's cool we didn't have to get rid of Master Cyclonis."

"Wait what do you mean?"

"Mike here was able to turn her around; Cyclonis is one of us now; she's a good person now."

"I highly doubt that."

"Trust me she is" I said reassuring. "I'm the one who convince her to switch side; after all I am a licensed doctor; and if something comes up I am the one to know first."

She look at me skeptically but then she caves in. "Fine but one little invasion or conscription nothing will hold me back from destroying that city."

I hold up my hand and said "you have my word as a knight and as a captain of a Special Forces group; now I must invite you all for a feast after we get situated"

"Very well" Starling says with some spite.

I fly back to the docks and I watch the Storm Blade leave to space. This whole ordeal was a trying one but it is an exciting one. This will give life anew in our world of Knights and creatures alike.


End file.
